Tracey Emin has announced that she will open a “revolutionary” art school in Margate as part of a larger plan to turn the beach town into a “artist’s haven.”
TKE Studios, called after her full name, Tracey Karima Emin, will be located five minutes from her studio in a former bathhouse and morgue. Emin said that she intended to transform the space into 30 studios for future art students.
“People will have to apply, and there will be very strict rules,” she told the New York Times in an interview. “There will be no subletting, smoking, or loud music.” And if individuals don’t want to follow the guidelines, they won’t be able to rent a studio.
“Another thing is that, because the rents will be so low, I don’t want people to work part-time and then never come in.” So I’m making arrangements for them to have time to work and paint.”
Students will be compelled to display their work in public on a frequent basis, according to Emin, “so there’ll be this constant intellectual rigour.” People can’t simply sit around and do nothing.” The morgue will be transformed into a “mini museum” showcasing her work.
Emin will also create an artist residency program at a different site to encourage artists to relocate permanently to Margate, where she grew up and returned following her mother’s death.
She said, “So it’s organically making the place right for the right people.” “I adore the arts. And I adore real estate. And in this manner, I’m combining two of my passions while also doing some good.”
The artist claimed she had a fresh view on life and a newfound sense of purpose after undergoing extensive treatment for a cancer diagnosis, which included having her bladder and womb removed.
“You know how you go through life and you have no idea what you’re doing, but you know you’re doing something?” Then, all of a sudden, you see the light. ‘Oh my God, that’s what I’m doing!’ you exclaim. Well, now that I’m in Margate, it all makes sense, particularly with the cancer and everything. I’m assisting in some way. “I’m constructing an artist’s haven.”
Emin, whose work, Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963-1995, soared to stardom in the 1990s, claimed last year that people didn’t understand the “seriousness” of her art and dismissed her as a “narcissistic, deranged, screaming banshee.”
Her latest shows include a neon sign that says “I want my time with you” in London’s St Pancras station, and her paintings, neons, and sculpture were shown alongside Edvard Munch’s at the Royal Academy last year.
Thanks to Nadia Khomami at The Guardian whose reporting provided the original basis for this story.
